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Final six battle it out in Nissan GT Academy

December 4, 2012

Episode six of Nissan GT Academy premieres Thursday night on Spike TV at 11:30 p.m. If you missed episode five last week, not to worry, we have the video and the recap right here.

Episode four ended with judges Danny Sullivan, Boris Said and Maryeve Dufault putting three drivers on the bubble of going home before sending two of them packing. That left six competitors to compete for one Nissan driving seat.

Last week's episode five started with an early morning physical challenge. The judges woke the competitors at 5 a.m. for what they called the F1 workout. The exercise started with players harnessed to a Nissan 370Z, which they had to pull, supposedly using many of the muscles one would use during a real race. Then the players had to stack racing tires as quickly as possible and engage in a tug of war. One of the instructors notes that the physicality of racing is the facet of the sport most commonly underestimated by probable drivers.

The second challenge placed drivers in a Nissan GT-R and set them on the Stowe portion of the Silverstone Circuit. Players had to pilot the GT-Rs through car-shaped holes in foam walls that were placed on the track: The first was wide and the second was narrow. As always, speed was a factor. Almost all of the players made it through, with varying times, but the last driver, Nick Barbato, experienced a bit of understeer, which sent him careening through foam, smashing his windshield in the process.

Finally, the players got a little downtime, and were allowed to compete against each other for a chance to play the 2011 Nissan GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter in Gran Turismo 5. Even winner Austin Cobb was no match for the now race-proven Heitkotter.

Last up was the third benchmark test, where the judges get to see how the drivers improved since arriving at Silverstone. What the racers didn't know is that the slowest two times would have to battle it out to see who stays and who goes. In a mini twist, last week's show ended without telling the viewer who won the one-on-one battle.

Tune into Spike TV on Thursday for episode six, or just come back here next week for the recap.